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<h1><a href="https://archiveofourown.org/works/28457430">Half-Light</a> by <a class='authorlink' href='https://archiveofourown.org/users/Coroniel/pseuds/Coroniel'>Coroniel</a></h1>

<table class="full">

<tr><td><b>Category:</b></td><td>Tokyo Ghoul</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Genre:</b></td><td>F/M, Post-Canon, akira-centric</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Language:</b></td><td>English</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Status:</b></td><td>Completed</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Published:</b></td><td>2020-12-31</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Updated:</b></td><td>2020-12-31</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Packaged:</b></td><td>2021-05-10 23:22:23</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Rating:</b></td><td>General Audiences</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Warnings:</b></td><td>No Archive Warnings Apply</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Chapters:</b></td><td>1</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Words:</b></td><td>1,056</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Publisher:</b></td><td>archiveofourown.org</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Story URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/works/28457430</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Author URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/users/Coroniel/pseuds/Coroniel</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Summary:</b></td><td><div class="userstuff">
              <p>Sunrises and sunsets, beginnings and endings, both incomparably beautiful.</p><p>Well, to some, at least. Amon personally doesn't care much for the celestial view, but it's been a long while since Akira looked up at the sky and allowed herself to hope.</p>
            </div></td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Relationships:</b></td><td>Amon Koutarou/Mado Akira</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Comments:</b></td><td>8</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Kudos:</b></td><td>28</td></tr>

</table>

<a name="section0001"><h2>Half-Light</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>Sometimes, Akira is surprised to remember that it has only been two years since the war. All of that feels like it happened lifetimes ago, and that feeling isn’t helped by how drastically Tokyo has changed in such a short period of time.</p><p>Standing on the balcony of her flat, she watches the night sky, unmindful of the chilly December wind. Her view of the sky is obscured by the many tall buildings around, but it gives her a measure of peace to just stand there, lost in her thoughts.</p><p>As soon as the war ended, she and Amon made plans to leave Tokyo, but somehow Nagachika convinced them to help with the aftermath. They were the former investigators who vouched for Goat after all, so they got the pleasure of sitting in on long meetings between Goat and the CCG.</p><p>In the meantime, they moved into a small apartment in the 1st Ward. It was difficult, learning to live together (or just learning to live), but over the months they settled into a comfortable routine.</p><p>The creaking sound of the front door opening brings Akira back to the present. Without looking, she knows who it is—Amon is the only other person who has the key. She doesn’t have to wait for long before he joins her, leaning on the railings.</p><p>“Sorry I’m late,” he says. “The discussion went on all day, but there’s still no conclusion on hybrid policies. It’ll probably take another month to resolve at this rate.”</p><p>She nods, but doesn’t add anything.</p><p>After a minute of silence, Amon asks, “What are you watching from here?”</p><p>“Just the sky,” she replies. A sudden realisation strikes her of how far away from it she is, here with her feet on the ground, and she speaks her thoughts. “I’ve never gone on an aeroplane. I wonder how close you could be to the sky without being on a flight.”</p><p>Amon hums in response and she glances at him, asking with a small smirk, “Bored already?”</p><p>He shakes his head, his gaze fixing on her. “I can’t say I see the same thing up there that you do, but that’s fine. As long as it brings you happiness.”</p><p>Her expression softens at that, and they stand quietly for another ten minutes before going back in.</p>
<hr/><p>"The Skytree?" Akira asks as she cranes her neck to look up at the tallest building in Tokyo. Second in the world. She's never seen it until now, but she's heard of it.</p><p>Catching Amon's fidgeting from the corner of her eyes, Akira turns to him with plain curiosity.</p><p>"Ah, you were saying yesterday… how close you could be to the sky. I thought…" He trails off, watching her as if waiting for judgement.</p><p>"Oh." She tries to say more, but the words get stuck in her throat and refuse to come out.</p><p>"Did you… not want to?" he asks as the pause continues.</p><p>"No, it’s just—I didn’t expect this," she replies, surprised when she feels her face heat up slightly at the admission. But then again, when was the last time she visited anywhere just for herself? With Haise, she had attended a few festivals and the sort, but those had an importance to her work as well—to get closer to him and cement herself as his mentor and mother figure. This, though… there are no ulterior motives.</p><p>She takes Amon's hand in hers and they walk into the building, making their way through the different floors on an elevator until at last they reach the observation deck, more than three hundred metres above ground.</p><p>From this height, almost the entirety of Tokyo lies ahead of them, looking little larger than a kid's toy city. Two years haven't been enough time to remove the traces of the battles that ravaged the city and so the sights of construction sites are aplenty, but it doesn't detract much from the stunning skyline.</p><p>However, none of this is what Akira is here for. Her gaze is naturally drawn upwards, towards the sky itself, the part of it unhindered by the manmade structures of the city.</p><p>She startles at the feeling of an arm settling around her shoulders, gently pulling her closer, but even as she leans into her boyfriend, Akira can't bring herself to tear her eyes away from the sight unfolding in front of her.</p><p>The cerulean-blue sky is ringed with reds and purples, slowly encroaching on it, darkening the sky in waves. The colours meld into each other, like something from an artist's palette, turning into brilliant shades that Akira has no words to name. Though it is painfully slow and gradual, she doesn't want to miss a moment of it. In the past, she never had time to waste on such simple pleasures, too busy with the hustle of life to appreciate the small everyday things.</p><p>But now… she watches every second of the sun’s descent and notices how the city lights up in response to the growing darkness, pinpricks of white and yellow reflecting the stars above. She watches the moon appear behind wispy clouds, which move aimlessly to the whims of the evening breeze.</p><p>She's just like that, Akira suddenly thinks. Lost and rudderless, she strays into territories never before charted by her, carried by the unstoppable flow of life, and though it frightens her, she's starting to see the endless possibilities surrounding her. </p><p>For too long, she had her eyes focused to six feet underground to see what lay around her. To seek out what she wanted for herself. But now she thinks she's finding it out. Light and love and laughter—those were the wishes of a girl from long ago, back when there was nothing like duty or vengeance to worry about. Now that she's bereft of her weighty goals, Akira reaches out to that inner child again.</p><p>The ending of one life, but the start of another.</p><p>She finally looks away from the sky and at Amon to find that he’s smiling at her, and the warmth of his expression elicits a pale but genuine smile from her.</p><p>Out there is an entire world remaining to be explored, a future waiting to be unravelled.</p><p>A future that she knows without doubt she wants to venture into with the man beside her.</p>
  </div><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_foot_notes"><b>Author's Note:</b><blockquote class="userstuff"><p>Happy New Year!</p><p>This fic is one of my first attempts at present tense and I hope I did it properly. Just wanted to end the year with this.</p></blockquote></div></div>
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